Molex Showcases Design Enhancements to its Impact™ Connector System at DesignCon 2011

Molex Incorporated will demonstrate new additions to its Impact™ Connector System in Booth 501 at DesignCon 2011, February 1 – 2, Santa Clara, CA. Molex’s Impact products meet marketplace demands for high-speed, high-density connectors while providing the ultimate in signal integrity and design flexibility. The Impact Orthogonal Direct Connector and Impact Plus 85-Ohm Backplane Connector both include new design enhancements and additional configurations, further expanding options for engineers.

The standard Impact Backplane Connector System provides data rates up to 25 Gbps and features a simple 1.90 by 1.35mm (.075 by .053”) grid on both backplane and daughtercard, increasing PCB routing flexibility while reducing complexity and costs. The products also include a broad-edge-coupled transmission technology, enabling low cross-talk and high-signal bandwidth while minimizing channel-performance variation across every differential pair within the system.

In addition to their overall design characteristics, the new products feature the following specific attributes:

Impact Orthogonal Direct Connector System:

This two-piece connector solution allows a right angle male connector to mate with the standard orthogonal daughtercard connector, creating a direct right angle male connector solution. The design improves airflow and reduces PCB space constraints by directly connecting vertical and horizontal add-in cards and eliminating backplane and midplane connections. In addition, its shorter line cards and switch-mode signal paths allow for more overall robust signal channels.

Impact 85-Ohm Backplane Connector System:

With a differential-pair density of up to 80 pairs per linear inch, the new Impact 85-Ohm system has the highest density per square inch in the industry In addition, its common signal ground reduces small insertion loss and cross-talk resonance to provide more efficient transmit and receive (Tx/Rx) signals. The 85-Ohm connector is polarized to mate only with 85-Ohm receptacles and uses a gray housing design color to differentiate it from the black housing color of the 100-Ohm connector system.